Point Topic reports that there are 600 million broadband subscribers worldwide. Point Topic looks at the business of providing broadband, remarking that fiber optics are gaining an increasing share where available, while satellite and mobile are reaching out to unserved areas.

In the last month and on a more local scope, the Blandin on Broadband blog has highlighted stories on the business of broadband deployment and service in Minnesota:

Connect Anoka County hosts a series of presentations on Last Mile options to complement their ARRA-funded fiber network to local institutions. The presentations are available online.

Lake County continues to have issues with their fiber project as incumbent providers make allegations about the financial aspects of the local ARRA-funded project and Lake County leaders refute allegations.

The Northeast Service Cooperative (NESC) recently published an update on their ARRA-funded project to deliver Ethernet services at speeds up to 10Gbps to critical service institutions.

Hiawatha Broadband (HBC) becomes a partner in US Ignite, a federal effort to bring broadband applications to 25 cities across the United States. The effort will bring program coordination and unique opportunities to the area.

MVTV Wireless provides an update on their ARRA-funded wireless project; they have fulfilled almost all of the ARRA expectations and hope to finish by the end of 2012, well ahead of its original end date of May 31, 2013.